U Shape Toothbrush

ABSTRACT

The U Shape Toothbrush is for the daily use of cleaning teeth. Its toothbrush head is in U shape. Inside the U shape toothbrush head, brushes extend inward from 3 directions facing the top, front and back of teeth. During tooth brushing, it cleans the top, front and back of teeth at same time in every stroke, which makes it very efficient. It also minimizes the hard to reach areas on the back of teeth for the ordinary toothbrush, which makes it more effective on cleaning the back of teeth. Part of the toothbrush head is made of elastic material to allow the toothbrush head deforming to fit with teeth of different sizes. 4 humps are designed inside the U shape toothbrush head to control the deformation. A toothbrush handle is designed that it can rotate with respect to the U shape toothbrush head for convenient use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Thoroughly cleaning teeth during each tooth brushing is important for maintaining the dental health. However, for the ordinary toothbrush it is hard to reach some areas on the back of teeth. It is always possible to leave some areas on the back of teeth un-brushed. Those un-brushed areas may keep germs and cause dental disease. The U shape toothbrush of this invention has brushes extending inward inside its U shape toothbrush head from 3 directions facing the top, front and back of teeth. When it is used during tooth brushing, it cleans the top, front and back of teeth at same time in every brushing stroke. The U shape toothbrush can minimize the un-brushed areas especially on the back of teeth to reduce the sources for dental disease and help to maintain the dental health.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The first objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can minimize the hard to reach areas especially on the back of the teeth for the ordinary toothbrush to make the tooth brushing more effective.

The second objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can clean the top, front and back of teeth at same time in every brushing stroke to make the tooth brushing more efficient.

The third objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that can follow the tooth profile and automatically adjust itself to fit teeth of different sizes.

The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that uses a U shape toothbrush head moving along teeth like a train moving along its rail track to make the tooth brushing fun and enjoyable.

The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide a toothbrush that uses a toothbrush handle that can rotate with respect to the toothbrush head to allow the U shape toothbrush head moving all the way along teeth from one end to the other end continuously and smoothly to make the tooth brushing more convenient.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-5 show the U Shape Toothbrush of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is the perspective view of the U Shape Toothbrush.

FIG. 2 is the front view of the U Shape Toothbrush.

FIG. 3 is the bottom view of the U Shape Toothbrush.

FIG. 4 is the side view of the U Shape Toothbrush.

FIG. 5 is the cross section view of the U Shape Toothbrush.

FIGS. 6-11 show the U Shape Toothbrush of the present invention with toothbrush handle that can rotate with respect to the toothbrush head.

FIG. 6 is the perspective view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 7 is the front view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 8 is the bottom view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 9 is the top view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 10 is the side view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 11 is the cross section view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIGS. 12-18 show the toothbrush handle mounting shaft of the present invention and the method of the toothbrush handle being assembled onto the U shape toothbrush head through the toothbrush handle mounting shaft.

FIG. 12 is the perspective view of the Toothbrush Mounting Shaft and the U Shape Toothbrush Head. The bottom round disk of the Toothbrush Mounting Shaft is glued onto the U Shape Toothbrush Head.

FIG. 13 is the elevation view of the Toothbrush Mounting Shaft.

FIG. 14 is the side view of the Toothbrush Mounting Shaft.

FIG. 15 is the top view of the Toothbrush Mounting Shaft.

FIG. 16 shows that the V cut on the toothbrush handle mounting shaft 6 can be pushed together to pass through the installation hole on the rotational toothbrush handle.

FIG. 17 shows the partial side view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle.

FIG. 18 shows the front view of the U Shape Toothbrush with Rotational Toothbrush Handle after the Rotational Toothbrush Handle is assembled onto the U Shape Toothbrush Head.

FIGS. 19A, 19B and 19C show the illustration of the U shape toothbrush head following the tooth profile and deforming to fit teeth of different sizes through using elastic material and hump designs of the present invention.

FIG. 19A illustrates that a large tooth touches the humps inside the U shape toothbrush head and forces the toothbrush head to open wider to fit the large tooth. FIG. 19B illustrates that a small tooth does not touch the humps and the elasticity from the elastic materials on the U shape toothbrush head contracts the toothbrush head. FIG. 19C illustrates that the U shape toothbrush head moving along the teeth following the tooth profile.

FIGS. 20A, 20B and 20C show different potential designs for the U shape toothbrush head. FIG. 20A shows the U shape toothbrush head using mixing of elastic and non-elastic materials. FIG. 20B shows the U shape toothbrush head using only elastic materials. FIG. 20C shows the U shape toothbrush head using mixing of elastic and non-elastic materials and the non-elastic materials are attached onto an elastic material base. FIGS. 20A, 20B and 20C also show that brushes extend out from the U shape toothbrush head toward the gums of both front and back of teeth. During tooth brushing, these brushes can massage the gums of the teeth.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS IN THE DRAWINGS

-   1 refers to Toothbrush handle or rotational toothbrush handle -   2 refers to U shape toothbrush head -   3 refers to Elastic materials -   4 refers to Humps inside the U shape toothbrush head -   5 refers to Brushes facing top, front and back of the teeth -   6 refers to Toothbrush handle mounting shaft used for connecting     rotational toothbrush handle with the U shape toothbrush head

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-20 are used to describe the invention. Those Figures are simple, straightforward and self-explanatory. References to those FIGs are listed here as the description of the invention.

-   1. The U Shape Toothbrush comprises a U shape toothbrush head and a     toothbrush handle as shown in FIGS. 1-11. -   2. The toothbrush handle can directly extend from the U shape     toothbrush head as shown in FIG. 1. -   3. The toothbrush handle can also be assembled onto the U shape     toothbrush head through a toothbrush handle mounting shaft which     allows the toothbrush handle to rotate with respect to the U shape     toothbrush head as shown in FIG. 6. The toothbrush handle mounting     shaft and the method of the toothbrush handle being assembled onto     the U shape toothbrush head through the toothbrush handle mounting     shaft are shown in FIGS. 12-18. -   4. The U shape toothbrush head comprises 2 elastic material parts     and 3 hard plastic parts. The 2 elastic material parts connect the 3     hard plastic parts together to form a U shape toothbrush head with     elasticity. The 3 hard plastic parts have brushes extending inward     from their 3 inner surfaces of the U shape toothbrush head facing     the top, front and back of teeth. The structure of the U shape     toothbrush head is shown in FIGS. 1-11. -   5. The U shape toothbrush head has 4 humps on the inner surfaces of     2 hard plastic parts for controlling the deformation of the U shape     toothbrush head. The locations of the 4 humps are shown in FIGS. 1,     2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11. The illustration of the U shape toothbrush     head following the tooth profile and deforming to fit teeth of     different sizes through using elastic material and hump design are     shown in FIGS. 19A 19B and 19C. -   6. The U shape toothbrush head can be designed in different ways.     FIGS. 20A, 20B and 20C illustrated 3 potential designs. 

1. A U Shape Toothbrush comprising: a U shape toothbrush head and a toothbrush handle the toothbrush handle can directly extend from the U shape toothbrush head or the toothbrush handle can be assembled onto the U shape toothbrush head through a toothbrush handle mounting shaft which allows the toothbrush handle to rotate with respect to the U shape toothbrush head
 2. The U Shape Toothbrush of claim 1, wherein said has a U shape toothbrush head and brushes extending inward from 3 directions facing the top, front and back of teeth, when it is used during tooth brushing, it cleans the top, front and back of teeth at same time in every brushing stroke. Brushes can also extend out from the U shape toothbrush head toward the gums of both front and back of teeth. During every brushing stroke, the brushes can massage the gums of the teeth.
 3. The U Shape Toothbrush of claim 1, wherein said the U shape toothbrush head or part of the U shape toothbrush head is made from elastic materials so that they can deform to fit the size of different teeth.
 4. The U Shape Toothbrush of claim 1, wherein said on the inner surface of the U shape toothbrush head, humps are designed to control the deformation of the U shape toothbrush head to fit the size of different teeth and keep the brushes touch the teeth at similar pressure whether it cleans small teeth or large teeth.
 5. The U Shape Toothbrush of claim 1, wherein said the toothbrush handle is assembled onto the U shape toothbrush head through a toothbrush handle mounting shaft. After the toothbrush handle is assembled and retained onto the U shape toothbrush head, the toothbrush handle can rotate with respect to the U shape toothbrush head for convenient use. 